What are squids?

Squids are a passive mob in Minecraft that’s quite common. They will typically not care for the player’s presence and simply move around the environment randomly. They are a type of aquatic mob, meaning that after 15 seconds (300 game ticks), they’ll suffocate when on land.

Unlike some other aquatic mobs, they remain still while on land, waiting to suffocate. They can also die from fall damage and burn like other land mobs when in this state. They’re also resistant to knockback when in this state.

Squids move by opening and closing their tentacles, which is their primary form of travel. The squid moves across all three dimensions, meaning they can be seen at all levels of the ocean, typically. They will also swim away from the player when attacked. They will also produce a cloud of black ink particles in the process of swimming away. They also have unique dark blue bubble particles when a they’re is attacked.

Where can I find squid?

Squids are typically found in rivers and different ocean biomes.

In Java Edition, they can spawn in ocean and river biomes from Y-level 50 to 63. 2-4 will spawn in each chunk, roughly speaking. They can also only spawn in water blocks, meaning that even if the biome is correct, they will not spawn if the area chunk lacks water.

In Bedrock Edition, similarly, they spawn in ocean and river biomes but can spawn only at the surface of these bodies of water. Additionally, baby squids can spawn in this version of the game. But, despite the baby variant of the the mob, they cannot be bred at all in any version of the game.

What do squids drop when they’re killed?

Squids drop only one item, which is an ink sac. They drop 1-3 ink sacs per kill, which increases when using the looting enchantment. This means that a looting III sword will cause the drops to increase to 1-6 ink sacs per kill.

They also drop 1-3 XP orbs per kill. They only drop experience when killed by a player or by a wolf that is tamed by a player.

In Bedrock Edition, baby variants of the mob, when killed, do not drop any type of loot, including experience. However, once they grow up, they will drop loot like normal. This is similar to other baby mobs inside the game.

Variants of Squid

While they are common, there’s a secondary type known as glow squids. They act similar to normal squids but simply have two different functions. The main one being that they glow while underwater, making for a great aesthetic. They also drop glow ink sacs, which are different than normal ink sacs but useful in their own way.

What are squids useful for?

While they’re an interesting mob, they have no normal use in Minecraft. However, they are quite useful when it comes to the item they drop, ink sacs.

Uses for ink sacs

Ink sacs have quite a few uses. It’s typically best for decorative reasons, which means you’ll either use very little or quite a lot of it.

One of the primary uses for ink sacs is a book and quill. You can create this item by using the ink sac, a book, and a feather. This will allow you to write inside the books and save the writing, which makes it good for storing information and sending messages to other players.

The next use for ink sacs is black dye, which is quite an important dye in Minecraft. This is the only way to achieve black dye outside of wither roses. Dyes can be used on candles, beds, leather armor, carpets, shulker boxes, and wool. You can also use black dye to craft black concrete powder, black terracotta, and black stained glass.

In the bedrock edition of Minecraft, you can also use ink sacs to craft dark prismarine. Which is a great resource for decorative purposes.

Squid Farms

Squid farms are quite interesting and are required if you want to acquire a lot of ink sacs for black dye rather quickly.

Steps to building a squid farm

The most important step when building a farm for these mobs is finding an area. You’ll need to find a river or ocean variant to setup the farm. It’s best to find one that has limited water in the area, as that will help you later on in the process when you need to drain water.

As mentioned, the next step is draining all the water in a radius of 128 blocks around the center. It’s important to make sure the radius is all the same biome to limit the spawn location and the spawning of dolphins since they share the water creature mob cap. To drain the area, it’s best to have a lot of sponges and a nether portal. You can get sponges from an ocean monument. In order to reuse sponges, you can go to the nether and place them, which will dry them out instantly.

After these steps, you should do research on which farm you’d want to build, as each farm is different and has different benefits. Some will allow you to afk, while others will allow you to get both in sacs and xp, but this requires the player to be active. You can also make a farm that farms both squid and drowned at the same time, which is quite efficient if you need loot from both.

Below, I’ll link some examples of different farms.

Drowned and Squid Farm (Bedrock Edition): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_reDZz5mIRU&pp=ygUNc3F1aWQgeHAgZmFybQ%3D%3D

Afk Farm (Java Edition): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCO21IJ85B4&t

Note: This video is still helpful for people trying to build a farm, but it would have to be altered, as squids now need a 3-block height to spawn.

A farm that doesn’t require draining

If you wish for an easier farm that doesn’t require draining an entire area, there are farms for this, but they tend to be less efficient and more resource-intensive, so it’s best to know what works for you. I’ll link below a great farm for players who want a simpler approach.

AFK Farm (JE/BE): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo4K6rWBImA&pp=ygUNc3F1aWQgeHAgZmFybQ%3D%3D

Facts about Squids

Squids, despite their relatively simple design, have quite a few fascinating facts about them.

• Squids, unlike most other mobs in Minecraft, lack a death animation.
• Despite their name, they are more similar to octopus due to the number of tentacles.
• They will be attacked by aquatic predators, including axolotls, guardians, and elder guardians. Using an invisibility potion on them will not stop them from being seen by guardians and elder guardians.
• The hitbox does include its tentacles, meaning if you hit that area, it will not damage the mob.
• Due to the fact that they’re aquatic mobs, the impaling enchantment works on them, depending on your version of the game and its constraints.
• In the Java Edition version of Minecraft, they can swim against a current, which is different than land-based mobs.
• They cannot swim in lava, even with the fire resistance effect on them. They will simply adopt their on-land behavior when inside the lava.
• Squids are a very early addition to Minecraft, making the first passive mob to spawn under any light level, in water, and without grass.